Military Resistance 8K24

NOT ANOTHER DAY

Oct. 10, 2010: A U.S. Air Force medivac helicopter carries the bodies of U.S. soldierskilled in a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province. (AP Photo/DavidGuttenfelder)

Max Watts Max Watts Max Watts He Is No Longer With Us Sergeant Major 1928-2010

Comment: T

In addition to the information below, Max Watts was Australian Correspondent forthis newsletter, sending in countless articles over the past 6 years, ranging fromreports about organizing anti-war outreach to Australian troops and U.S. armedforces members visiting Australia to histories of work with anti-war U.S. soldiersduring the American war on Vietnam.

Then the were frequent phone calls from Australia, with information, suggestions,and his take on growing resistance to Imperial war among the troops in Iraq andAfghanistan, richer for his lifetime of experience doing this work.

One of his many outstanding contributions was co-authorship, with David

Cortright, of the book Left Face: Soldier Unions and Resistance Movements inModern Armies [see below].

Up until a long illness overcame him about three weeks ago, he was in continuingcontact. He never stopped fighting.

All respect to Max Watts, mensch und kämpfer.

Don’t mourn; organize.

Nothing less would have met with his approval.

***************************************************************[Thanks to Mark Shapiro, Military Resistance Organization, who sent this in. He writes:“I never met Max but we often spoke on the telephone. He’ll be missed by many. Hewas a great man! R.I.P Max ...]

25 November 2010 By Shant Fabricatorian, Inner West Independent

Born to Jewish parents in Germany in 1928, Max belonged to a family of anti-fascists, a

political leaning he would maintain to the end. Along with his mother and sister, hesurvived the Holocaust, an experience which would shape his life.

Watts made his name as a freelance journalist reporting war and conflict, notably inBougainville, but also in East Timor, Palestine, and South America. In addition tofreelancing for a variety of local publications in Sydney, he wrote for three Germanpapers along with a French one. He also worked as the chief reporter for the Sydneybureau of Reporters Sans Frontières, vigilantly keeping an eye on censorship ofjournalists by press organisations and governments alike.

Famously, Max helped initiate ‘RITA’ – Resistance Inside The Army, which gave itsname to a book about the history of resistance from American soldiers fromwithin the army apparatus.

The celebration of his life will be held on Wednesday, December 1, 11.30am, at

Left Face: Soldier Unions and Resistance Movements in Modern

1: Soldiers Organize: An Overview

2: After Vietnam: Resistance Continues3: The Nonunionization" of the U.S. Military"4: The Professional Military Unions of Europe5: The Volunteer Army: Its Origins and Consequences Introduction Conclusion6: The Debate on Military Unions7: The Hair Force" of Holland"8: Bad Company": Company Unions and the Soldiers’ Movement of Scandinavia"9: Sons of the Wehrmacht: Pacifists and Unionists10: Eastern Europe and the Ussr11: France: Halte à La Misère Sexuelle!12: Italy: Conscripts and NCOs Unite!13: Spain: from Massacres to Mess-Hall Strikes14: Portugal: The Revolution of the Carnations15: Chile16: Iran: The Airmen’s Revolt17: The Philippines: Another Portugal?18: Ecco and the Continuing Soldiers’ Movement in Europe19: Why?

NotesBibliographyAcknowledgmentsIndexAbout the Authors

IRAQ WAR REPORTS

When Is A Withdrawal Of Combat Troops Not A Withdrawal Of Combat Troops? When The Major General Says He Is Sending 850 Combat Troops To Iraq: He Says “There Is Still A Need For Combat Units In Iraq” [And So Much For Obamas’ Lying Bullshit About How He Withdrew All “Combat Troops” From Iraq][Thanks to Felicity Arbuthnot, who sent this in with the headline.]November 6, 2010 By Cindy Clayton, The Virginian-Pilot

More than 400 Virginia Army National Guard soldiers from Hampton Roads have beenordered to mobilize to enter active duty on June 1 to head to Iraq.

Across the state, the mobilization will total about 850 soldiers, according to theannouncement made this morning by Maj. Gen. Daniel E. Long Jr., a National Guardnews release says.

Soldiers will report to Camp Atterbury, Ind., 45 to 60 days before deploying overseas.The order calls for 240-day tours of duty, but the mobilization could be adjusted, therelease says.

The units being mobilized are all part of the Staunton-based 116th Brigade CombatTeam, and they will come together to form a squadron-sized task force under the controlof the Portsmouth-based 2nd Squadron, 183rd Cavalry Regiment, the release says.Their mission will be to conduct convoy security and base defense operations in supportof Operation New Dawn.

The mobilization includes 430 soldiers from the Portsmouth-based 2nd Squadron, 183rdCavalry Regiment with units in Norfolk, Suffolk and Virginia Beach.

The Portsmouth-based 2nd Squadron, 183rd Cavalry Regiment last deployed fromSeptember 2007 to May 2008 to Kuwait and Iraq, where they conducted securityoperations. The squadron consists of the Norfolk-based A Troop, the Suffolk-based BTroop, the Virginia Beach-based C Troop and the Portsmouth-based Company D, 429thBrigade Support Battalion.

Other soldiers heading to Iraq as part of the mobilization will come from theFredericksburg-based Company A, 116th Brigade Special Troops Battalion andCompany D, 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment; the Christiansburg-based CompanyC, 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment and the Bowling Green-based Company B,116th Brigade Special Troops Battalion. The Bowling Green company’s mission will beto provide unmanned aerial reconnaissance and surveillance support for U.S. forces.

“Even though the mission of United States military forces in Iraq has shifted from combatoperations to support and stability operations, there is still a need for combat units in Iraqto help maintain a safe and secure environment for our personnel as well as the Iraqis,”Long said in the announcement. “The Soldiers being mobilized for this mission bring withthem a wealth of experience in security operations, and we are confident they will besuccessful in their mission.”

Baghdad’s west-central district of Mansour, an Interior Ministry source said.BAGHDAD - A sticky bomb attached to the car of Brigadier General MohammedHameed went off and killed him in Baghdad’s southern Saidiya district, an InteriorMinistry source said.

BAGHDAD - Insurgents killed an employee in the Housing and Construction Ministry in

Baghdad’s western district of Khadra, an Interior Ministry source said.

SHIRQAT - Two roadside bombs exploded in quick succession near the checkpoint ofthe government-backed Sahwa militia, killing three people, including one Sahwamember, and wounding 18 in the town of Shirqat, 300 km (190 miles) north of Baghdad,police said.

NEAR SAMARRA - A roadside bomb wounded police officer Nabeel Abbas Ashraf, headof the Huwaish police station, and two of his body guards, near Samarra, 100 km (62miles) north of Baghdad, after it exploded hitting his convoy, a police source at theSamarra operations centre said.

TUZ KHURMATO - A roadside bomb wounded a police officer when it went off near hispatrol in Tuz Khurmato, a police source from the Tuz Khurmato operations centre said.

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb wounded an Iraqi soldier when it exploded near an armypatrol in eastern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.

NEED SOME TRUTH?

CHECK OUT TRAVELING SOLDIERTraveling Soldier is the publication of the Military Resistance Organization.

Telling the truth - about the occupations or the criminals running the governmentin Washington - is the first reason for Traveling Soldier. But we want to do morethan tell the truth; we want to report on the resistance to Imperial wars inside thearmed forces.

Our goal is for Traveling Soldier to become the thread that ties working-classpeople inside the armed services together. We want this newsletter to be aweapon to help you organize resistance within the armed forces.

If you like what you’ve read, we hope that you’ll join with us in building a networkof active duty organizers. http://www.traveling-soldier.org/

And join with Iraq Veterans Against the War to end the occupations and bring alltroops home now! (www.ivaw.org/) AFGHANISTAN WAR REPORTS

A foreign servicemember died during an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan today.

Cass County Soldier Killed In

AfghanistanNovember 17, 2010, WDAF-TV

FREEMAN, MO — People in the small Cass County town of Freeman, Missouri, aremourning after the death of a young soldier in Afghanistan last weekend.

Cpl. Jacob Carver, 20, was one of three people killed in the Kandahar Province ofAfghanistan on Saturday when a suicide bomber set off explosives in his vest. Staff Sgt.Juan Rivadeneira, 27, of Davie, Fla., and Spc. Jacob Carroll, 20, of Clemmons, N.C.,were also killed in the attack.

Carver and the other soldiers were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 502nd InfantryRegiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division based in Fort Campbell,Ky.

Carver’s family said that Carver had wanted to join the military since he was a child, andhad joined the Army right after he graduated from high school. They say that he wasscheduled to come home on leave at the end of December.

Friends like Brian Driggs say that Carver was proud to serve his country.

"When you lose someone you think about everyone else’s family over there and howmuch they mean to so many people, and how it effects everyone," said Driggs. "I’mthankful for everyone fighting over there."

The Carvers declined to talk on-camera to FOX 4, but wished to thank the community forits support. Fallen Marine Remembered As Father And Husband11/16/2010 By Deborah Donovan, Daily Herald

After losing “an amazing father and amazing husband more than I could ever ask for,"Katie Stack says her year-old daughter, Mikayla, is her whole life.

The 19-year-old will bury her husband, Lance Cpl. James Stack, 20, Saturday. TheMarine was shot and killed last week after being deployed in Afghanistan only a month.

Katie, who like her husband is from Arlington Heights, talked Tuesday in her mother’snorth Arlington Heights townhouse about the short years she had with James Stack.

They met when the 16-year-old Katie transferred as a junior from Prospect High Schoolto Christian Liberty Academy in Arlington Heights. James’ parents taught him at home,but he was on the academy’s track team, where both he and Katie were high jumpers.

James wrote Katie notes and gave her yellow roses. “I love the color yellow and I don’tlike red,” she said.

When Mikayla came along, James’ love for his daughter was obvious, said Katie.

“I would be cleaning or something and see them playing. I could see how much he lovedher, and she absolutely adored him.”

And Katie felt that love from James, too.

“He always took care of me. I had some medical problems. He was there by my side theentire time. He never left my side. It was amazing.”

While the couple was very active running, walking or swimming together and evenwrestling with each other, they did have favorite movies and video games.

A character in the Transformer movies inspired the name of their daughter, Mikayla.

And the video games were “Call of Duty,” military shooting games.

“We would sit and down and play it,” she said. “That was our thing. I’m one of the veryfew women who would play that game.” The young wife insists she held her own with theMarine.

“We are both very competitive,” she said.

When James left for Afghanistan, he didn’t want to talk about the worst happening,saying she shouldn’t worry, and he would come home.“I made him talk about it,” said Katie. “I sat him down and said ‘It’s war. Anything canhappen, you know.’ We told each other that we loved each other. No matter whathappens we are never going to be apart. He’s always going to be with me.”

And that’s how she gets through these horrible days: “I talk to him, tell him I love him,and I pray. Mikayla keeps me going. Just looking at her I know he lives within her. She’smy world now. She’s what I live for.”

Another thing that helps is the Marine family.

While the men James fought with are still in Afghanistan, 10 Marine friends will bepallbearers. A special friend, Lance Cpl. Ryan Madura of Camp Pendleton in California,will escort the body. And 10 others, mostly wives and sweethearts of Marines, will cometo be with Katie.

Katie and James are among the youngest couples in their circle, yet she is the first tolose her spouse.

“Those boys over there really need prayers and whatever else they can get,” Stack says.“We’re all getting through it together as a family. I really want people to know that he’s aChristian and saved, and I can’t wait to reunite with him in Heaven.”

James called her on a satellite phone two nights before he was killed, and Katie hasreceived at least 20 letters and knows more are on the way. She got three the day shewas told James had died.

His message was, “basically that he loves us and can’t wait to come home to us.”

“It helps that he’s a hero. He’s mine and Mikayla’s hero forever.”

James Stack was a rifleman in India Company 3/5 Marines in the 1st division. They wereserving in Sangin in Helmand province, considered one of the most violent places inAfghanistan, according to The Associated Press.

“He liked being a Marine, but did not like how much time he was away from his family,”she said. “He liked being a hero to me and my daughter. I was very proud of him. Heliked that he was actually doing something in the world for America.”

James Stack’s mother, Linda, said she and her husband, Robert, share memories whenthey can’t sleep at night.

“Katie and Mikayla are such a welcome addition to this tight family,” said Linda. Katieconsiders James’ 16-year-old sister, Megan, her own sister.

His mother said James was the kind of young boy who would jump up from his HappyMeal at McDonald’s to open the door for an elderly couple.

He wasn’t the most dedicated student, she said, recalling how he’d try to distract Meganfrom her studies, and spend his studying time texting to Katie.Linda Stack is grateful for the dignified ceremony when the Marines brought his bodyhome to Dover Air Force Base and said it helped give her closure.

“I was looking up to the heavens with a silly smirk on my face,” she said, knowing thatthe box contained only her son’s body. “I was looking up to the heavens where mySavior and my son are.”

The elder Stacks pledge their love and support to Katie and Mikayla.

“I’m so proud of you,” Linda said to Katie. “Thank you. Thank you for loving my son. Heneeded to know that people outside our little niche loved him as much as we did.”

In an insurgent attack on NATO supply vehicles in Farah province, six militants, onepolice soldier and a convoy guard were killed. Najibullah Najib, a spokesman for Zafar207 military Corps, told TOLOnews reporter on Sunday that the Taliban insurgentsattacked a NATO convoy on Saturday morning in Bakwa district of Farah province andtorched two supply vehicles.

Insurgents killed five village elders in an ambush Wednesday in northern Afghanistan,

NATO reported, underscoring fears that violence is spreading from more volatile areas.

The men were traveling through Faryab province, which borders Turkmenistan whentheir vehicle was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. Four other elders were woundedin the attack.

While Taliban influence in the north and west is not as pervasive as in the movement’ssouthern heartland, the insurgency has been slowly expanding its presence in areassuch as Kunduz, Faryab and Baghlan since 2007, mostly among Pashtuns who are aminority in northern parts of the country.

IF YOU DON’T LIKE THE RESISTANCE

END THE OCCUPATION How Do You Know When Your Country Is Run By A Foreign Military Dictatorship? When The Foreign Occupiers Don’t Give A Shit What Your Fake “President” Wants Or Doesn’t Want: Karzai’s’ Pathetic Whining Demanding U.S. Special Forces Stop Night Raids Makes No Never Mind At AllNov 23, 2010 By Rahim Faiez - The Associated Press [Excerpts]

Hamid Karzai maintained his opposition to night raids targeting insurgent leaders, astance that has caused friction between the Afghan leader and NATO.

Karzai spoke at a news conference in Kabul after returning from a weekend summit withNATO leaders in Lisbon, Portugal.

Karzai said he told leaders at the summit that he continues to be opposed to night raids,which coalition forces and their Afghan partners conduct to capture and kill midlevelTaliban insurgents.

Karzai said the operations are intrusive, disrupt the daily lives of the Afghan people andlead to the death of innocents.

"For a long time I and the Afghan people have protested, saying that they should stopthe night raids and the civilian killings," Karzai said. [And for a long time nobody whomakes policy for U.S. troops in Afghanistan gives a shit what Karzai has to sayabout night raids. Of course. Why should they? T]

Report From U.S. Government

Dept. Of Head-Up-The-Ass: Some “U.S. Officials” Say Taliban Won’t Negotiate Because They Believe They Are Winning: Other “U.S. Officials” Say Taliban Must Negotiate Because They Are “Beginning To Fracture”November 23, 2010 By Joshua Partlow and Karen DeYoung. Washington Post[Excerpts]

With the senior insurgent leadership safely harbored in Pakistan, according to U.S. andAfghan officials, the Taliban has remained firmly opposed to any formal negotiations,while the informal contacts between the two sides have so far amounted to little.

"That leadership in Pakistan is not losing its grip yet," said a senior NATO official inKabul.

Some U.S. officials who have monitored the talks, particularly those within theintelligence community, have questioned the status of Taliban interlocutors and said thatintelligence indicated the insurgents still believed they were winning and had littleincentive to negotiate.

Others, including senior U.S. military officials, have cited intelligence showing theopposite - that the Taliban is beginning to fracture under the stress of coalitionoperations - and said that top insurgents are participating in exploratory talks.

POLITICIANS CAN’T BE COUNTED

ON TO HALT THE BLOODSHED THE TROOPS HAVE THE POWER TO STOP THE WARS Military Resistance Available In PDF Format If you prefer PDF to Word format, email contact@militaryproject.org ENOUGH OF THIS SHIT; ALL HOME NOW

U.S. soldiers from 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion patrol in Zhari district inKandahar Province, Afghanistan November 23, 2010. REUTERS/Peter Andrews

Obama Regime Moves To Overturn Court

SEATTLE — A lesbian flight nurse discharged under “don’t ask, don’t tell” canrejoin the Air Force Reserve, even as the government appeals a judge’s ruling thatreturned her to the job, her lawyers said Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton ruled in September that former Maj. MargaretWitt must be reinstated because her dismissal advanced no legitimate militarygoals and thus violated her constitutional rights.

The Justice Department appealed that ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court ofAppeals on Tuesday, its deadline for doing so.But government lawyers did not ask the appeals judges to freeze the lower court’sruling while the appeal proceeds — and Witt’s lawyers said that means she can bereinstated.

“I am thrilled to be able to serve in the Air Force again,” Witt said in a written statementreleased by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington state. “The men andwomen in the unit are like family members to me, and I’ve been waiting a long time torejoin them.”

Witt was suspended in 2004 and subsequently discharged after the Air Force learnedshe had been in a long-term relationship with a civilian woman. She sued to get her jobback.

Leighton initially upheld her firing, but in 2008 a three-judge 9th Circuit panel saidmilitary members could not be discharged under “don’t ask” unless their dismissalfurthered military goals such as troop morale or unit cohesion.

It sent the case back to Leighton, who ruled that Witt’s firing actually hurt morale in herunit.

If Witt is reinstated, she would be serving openly at a time when the military’s policy ongays is in disarray. President Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates want to endthe ban, but say it should be done through Congress, not the courts.

A federal judge in California has declared the 1993 “don’t ask, don’t tell” lawunconstitutional — a ruling the DOJ is also appealing — and in the meantime, thePentagon has issued new guidelines that have drastically cut the numbers of gays beingdismissed under the policy.

The Pentagon plans to release a monthslong study Nov. 30 on how lifting the gayservice ban would affect the armed forces.

The Justice Department did not immediately say why it did not seek a stay of Leighton’sruling. The Air Force Reserve at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle, where Wittwas based, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

“It’s indicative of the effort the White House is making to thread the needle on ‘don’t ask,don’t tell,’“ said Chris Neff, deputy executive director of the Palm Center, a pro-repealthink tank based at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Despite being excited to rejoin the Air Force, Witt said she was disappointed thegovernment was appealing at all.

Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said the department was simplydefending the law, as it historically does when acts of Congress are challenged. WhiteHouse Press Secretary Robert Gibbs insisted that the appeal shows why it’s importantfor the Senate to repeal the “misguided policy” quickly — before a new Congress takesover, with a slimmer Democratic majority in the Senate.

“This filing in no way diminishes the president’s — and his administration’s — firmcommitment to achieving a legislative repeal of DADT this year,” Gibbs said in an e-mailed statement. [Lame bullshit: the President could change it in 4 minutes byExecutive Order.]

“Don’t ask” prohibits the military from asking about the sexual orientation of servicemembers, but allows the discharge of those who acknowledge being gay or arediscovered to be engaging in homosexual activity.

MORE:

[Here’s The Decision Referred To

Above] Judge Orders Air Force To Reinstate Officer Forced Out By “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” “The First Time That A Federal Judge Has Ordered The Military To Allow An Openly Gay Service Member To Serve In The Armed Forces”

A federal judge in Tacoma has ordered the Air Force to reinstate retired Maj. MargaretWitt, a skilled flight nurse, in a closely watched case involving the "don’t ask, don’t tell"policy on gays serving in the military.

The ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Leighton marks the first time sinceCongress approved the policy in 1993 that a federal judge has ordered the military toallow an openly gay service member to serve in the armed forces.

"Good flight nurses are hard to find," said Leighton, who found that the evidencepresented at the trial showed Witt’s reinstatement "... would not adversely affectunit morale or cohesion" in her unit.

"You have been and continue to be a central figure in a long-term, highly-charged civilrights movement,’ said Leighton, speaking directly to Witt.

"That role places extraordinary stresses on you, I know. Today, you have won a victoryin that struggle, the depth and duration of which will be determined by other judicialofficers and hopefully soon, the political branches of government."

Witt, after the ruling said, "I can’t wait to just do my job. Go back to my unit and do whatI’m supposed to do."

Witt, of Spokane, a flight nurse who joined the Air Force in 1987, was suspended in2004 under the "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy after her commanders learned she was in alesbian relationship with a civilian woman.

Her fight to be reinstated has attracted national attention as part of the broader battleabout whether gays and lesbians will be allowed to serve openly in the military. Earlierthis week — just hours after the conclusion of Witt’s six-day trial — Republicans in theSenate blocked President Obama’s efforts to push through a repeal of the 1993 "don’task, don’t tell" policy.

Opponents of the policy have waged a separate legal assault in federal courts. Earlierthis month, they gained a victory when a California federal judge ruled that the policywas unconstitutional. The U.S. Justice Department is attempting to prevent the judgefrom issuing an injunction that would halt the ban on openly gay troops.

Witt was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington

In 2008, Witt’s legal challenge resulted in a significant ruling from the 9th U.S. CircuitCourt of Appeals saying the military should have to establish an important governmentinterest — such as the preservation of unit morale, discipline and order — in making thedecision to force someone from the military because of openly homosexual conduct.

During the trial, Witt’s attorneys insisted she was well respected and liked by hercolleagues and that her sexuality never caused problems in the unit.They argued her firing actually hurt military goals such as morale, unit cohesionand troop readiness.

Several members of the squadron testified that they would welcome Witt back tothe unit.

Lawyers for the Air Force said those factors were irrelevant.

Military personnel decisions can’t be run by unit referendum, they said.

[Not yet maybe, but one of these days for sure. Until the politicians killed militarydemocracy, U.S. soldiers could elect their own officers. Time to take it back.Overdue. T

THIS IS HOW OBAMA BRINGS THEM HOME:

ALL HOME NOW, ALIVE

The remains of Army Pfc. Tramaine J. Billingsley at Arlington National Cemetery in Nov.2, 2010. Billingsley of Portsmouth, Va., died Oct. 14 in combat operations between theMuqur district of Ghazni province and Darreh-Ye Bum, Afghanistan, of wounds sufferedwhen insurgents attacked with an improvised explosive device. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

Citizens In Cap-Haitien Mobilize

To Drive Out UN Occupation Troops: “They Shot Many People” “All Elements Of Society Are Participating In The Movement” “We Have Bottles, We Don’t Have Guns To Shoot Them, But They’re Shooting Us. We Have To Defend Our Rights”

Haitians use coffins to barricade a downtown road in Cap Haitien

Johnny said a MINUSTAH [UN occupation force] vehicle fell into the trenchWednesday and people threw bottles at them. The troops opened fire, killing aninnocent bystander whose body was taken downtown, he said.

“Those soldiers are tourists! The money that’s invested in MINUSTAH – theycould invest that money in education. They could invest in constructinghospitals, in cleaning up the country. But they’re paying those soldiers instead.

11.19.2010 By Ansel Herz, Mediahacker [Excerpts]

CAP-HAITIEN – The first barricade looked harmless enough. Foot-long rocks piled nextto each other in a line.

But as the bus driver slowed down, flying rocks landed in the street – thrown by youthscrouching in the bushes up the hill.

“We don’t really have a country! The police don’t do anything!” a nun sitting across fromme complained after the bus driver negotiated, with a little cash, our way past.

The man next to her said the country will always be mired in problems until a leader likeHugo Chavez or Fidel Castro takes power.

We must have passed a dozen more barricades, most unmanned.

After Limbe, where cholera has killed at least 100 people, we came to the biggest“barikad” yet in the highway. Thick trees lay across the road and hundreds of people, afew holding machetes, blocked the way.

The bus driver once again descended to negotiate, but didn’t appear to be making anyprogress. Most passengers grabbed their belongings and got out.

I decided to go too. As I gathered my things, there was a debate among the remainingpassengers:

“He’s a blan (foreigner), he’s going to get hurt.”

MINUSTAH is the acronym for the UN peacekeeping [translation: occupation] mission.

As I stepped off the bus, people standing at the road called me over and urged me not togo. It was the third day of so-called “cholera riots” against foreign troops blamed forintroducing the disease into the country.

Someone said the protesters are violent “chimere,” a word for political gangs. I explainedthat it’s my job as a journalist to go talk to them.

Then two Haitian journalists who were on the bus pushed their way through the crowdand wrapped their arms around me. Everyone agreed, finally, that together with the twoguys I could get through the barricades.

Elizer and Duval were coming back home to Cap Haitien. They were scared for me,saying under no circumstances should I talk with protesters or take photos. I reluctantlyagreed to follow their instructions.

I wondered if perhaps the UN peacekeeping mission was right in saying these

were protests were organized by a politician or gang. “Enemies of stability anddemocracy,” MINUSTAH mission head Edmond Mulet called them.

So far, I’d only seen young men in the street.

But as we passed through each barricade, everyone – young girls and rotundmarket women mingling with demonstrators yelled out, “MINUSTAH ou ye?”

One teenager who threw a rock at us as we approached on motorcycle said, “pa genpwoblem” – no problem – after I held out my press badge.

As we arrived on the outskirts of Cap Haitien proper, the streets were deserted exceptfor people gathered around barricades. One was still flaming. At another, dozens of menmilled around a burnt out car.

“Press! Press!” I called out, and they beckoned me through the crowd, many handspushing me forward until I was through.

I was glad when an elderly man walking in the street stopped me. I finally had a chanceto do an interview, against the advice of my companions. I whipped out my audiorecorder.

He was Amos Ordena, the local section’s elected Kazek – an official dispute mediator.

“The population has information that MINUSTAH introduced cholera,” he told me.“So many people have died. They’re obligated to hold fast, to demonstrate, so thatthe authorities will take responsibility. They’re asking MINUSTAH to leave thecountry.”

Asked if the protests are by a single group or the general population, he said allelements of society are participating in “the movement.”

He said MINUSTAH are not firing weapons in self-defense, in the air to disperseprotesters, but firing at people.

He heard that at least one person had died earlier in the day.

We finally turned off the main road and walked into an alleyway. Elizer’s modest homewas at the end (his lost his wife, children, and house in the capital in the earthquake).One of his brothers, blind and handicapped, lay on the floor beneath a televisionshowing a soccer match. He smiled and introduced himself when I walked in.

A neighbor of Elizer called up TV reporter Johnny Joseph, who came to meet me andhelp me get to the house where I was planning to stay. Elizer refused to accept anymoney for all his trouble.

Before leaving with Johnny, I spoke to Aristil Frito, a 24-year-old student standingoutside talking with his neighbors. “The objective of the movement is clear:they’re asking for the departure of MINUSTAH.”He said irresponsibility by the leaders of the country had led to this situation. In a moredeveloped country, without so many young unemployed people in the street, the protestsmight have been more peaceful, he said.

“But the real solution is for people to live in a climate of peace, in dialogue. Today allHaitians should work together finish with hunger and poverty,” he said. “The bestsolution is the promotion of social dialogue.”

Johnny and I hopped on a motorcycle taxi, taking backstreets to bypass the barricades.We passed a five-foot deep trench dug in a narrow dirt road.

Johnny said a MINUSTAH vehicle fell into the trench Wednesday and people threwbottles at them. The troops opened fire, killing an innocent bystander whose bodywas taken downtown, he said.

MINUSTAH blamed the death on local gangs.

At one junction, a young man in a purple shirt and black cap blocked our path and stuckout a knife as his friends looked on. I realized my press badge was tucked into my shirt. Ipulled it out as Johnny talked the man down.

“You need to have your badge out,” the young man told me, glaring. “It’s a principle.”

That’s been the only instance of serious hostility directed at me since I arrived inCap Haitien.

So it’s bewildering to read the reporting of CNN’s Ivan Watson, who claimed thatarmed rioters control the city. He told viewers while being filmed on the back of afast-moving motorcycle that it’s only way to move about the city amidst “violentprotests.”

He doesn’t use that adjective to describe the actions of UN troops, accused of

killing at least three demonstrators since Monday.

“They shot many people. We took them to the hospital. We’re asking MINUSTAH toleave the country,” a middle-aged man who declined to give his name told me.

He stopped bicycling past an intersection barricaded with coffins to stop and

share his anger. “We have bottles, we don’t have guns to shoot them, but they’reshooting us. We have to defend our rights, MINUSTAH is a thing that doesn’t workin this country.”

Another of Watson’s reports claimed that Christian missionaries were forced to speed ona bus away from out-of-control-mobs, like in a Hollywood-style chase scene.

High drama = high ratings.

As I walked towards the downtown’s central public square on Wednesday, finally nearingthe house, I saw several dozen people facing Haitian police in full riot gear standing intheir way.They said they had no beef with foreigners generally – only MINUSTAH.

Theodore Joel said they respected the Haitian police, because they’re brothers andfamily – though two police stations were reportedly set on fire during the first day ofprotests.

“Those soldiers are tourists! The money that’s invested in MINUSTAH – they couldinvest that money in education. They could invest in constructing hospitals, in cleaningup the country. but they’re paying those soldiers instead. We don’t have guns like in1803… but each time we put our heads together, we’re marked in history.”

Thursday marked 203 207 years since the Battle of Vertières, where Jean-JacquesDessalines led the final major assault on French armies to drive them off Haitian soil.They renamed the city: from Cap Francois to Cap Haitien.

While many expected demonstrations to continue in commemoration of Haiti’s

independence struggle, the streets were quiet. No further confrontations were reported. Iwalked around downtown Cap on my own, trying to find an Internet connection to sendout a radio story.

I’m asking everyone I meet here – from local journalists, vendors, men at thebarricades, to a local magistrate – if these protests were organized by a gang orpolitical group.

The unanimous answer is no – people are fed up with UN peacekeepers and thecholera outbreak is the straw that broke the camel’s back.

The magistrate said he understands and respects the people demonstrating, but hewishes the barricades weren’t impeding the transportation of medical supplies to fightcholera in his commune, where people are dying in the street.

As the head of MINUSTAH warned that “every second lost” because of protests meansmore suffering and death from cholera, the anti-UN demonstrations continued in Port-au-Prince on Thursday.

CNN’s Watson led his report this way: “Like cholera itself, Haiti’s protests against theUnited Nations spread Thursday to the capital, Port-au-Prince, as angry people took tothe streets demanding the global body get out of their country.”

Seems that for Watson, these protests are like a disease. It continues: “a plannedprotest began peacefully in the center of the city but turned violent as it moved towardthe presidential palace, with one woman overcome by tear gas, witnesses said.”

Again, the protesters are the ones implicated in the violence. But a timeline-reportreleased by International Action Ties, an independent human rights monitoringgroup, said the demonstrations were largely peaceful after returning to Champsde Mars plaza.UN troops and Haitian police fired at least thirty tear gas canisters into the Faculty ofEthnologie and surrounding tent camps, the report said, sending children and old womenfleeing into the streets. Police ignored the group’s pleas to stop firing.

Are protests against the UN meant to destabilize the country? Are Haitians who’ve takento the streets being used, like puppets, by powerful politicians for their own ends? Arethe protests violent?

The foreigners I’ve talked to say yes. A few American liberals living in Haiti tell me theyfear the protests are violent and meant to cause chaos, echoing the statements ofMINUSTAH and reporters like Watson. Some Haitians in the professional middle classdon’t want to participate.

But most Haitians I’ve spoken with say no.

They say this is the inevitable outcome when troops who operate in Haiti with seemingimpunity may have introduced a deadly, misery-multiplying disease into the country.

Zionists Regime Wipes Out Palestinian

Wednesday morning the village of Abul Ajaj in the northern Jordan valley region as aprelude to expanding the settlement of Metsuwah that was established on Palestinianlands.

Eyewitnesses said that more than 30 Palestinian structures belonging to the family of AlDoais were totally removed from the area, adding that the Israeli troops have imposed amilitary cordon on the area since the early morning hours, while the family refused toleave their hometown.The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) had handed the residents of the village orders toevacuate their homes, which were attacked earlier more than once by extremist Jewishsettlers.

In another incident, the IOF stormed in the morning of the same day the village of BaniHassan in the Palestinian city of Salfit, and embarked on knocking down Palestinianhomes and bulldozing agricultural lands.

Local sources reported that the demolitions took place in Beir Abu Ammar town, addingthat the Israeli troops physically assaulted the Palestinian farmers and detained head ofthe municipal council Abdulkareem Rayyan.

They also said that dozens of Palestinians flocked into the town in order to stop thedemolitions and clashed with the troops.

The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) had warned months ago the Palestinian owners ofthe lands in this town not come to their lands at the pretext they are state property andlocated within the area classified by Israel as C.

Citizens from the area said these demolitions were carried out in an attempt to controlwater resources in the area, where the settlers want to take over water wells and deprivethe Palestinian villages from them.

[To check out what life is like under a murderous military occupation by foreignterrorists, go to: www.rafahtoday.org The occupied nation is Palestine. Theforeign terrorists call themselves “Israeli.”]

DANGER: POLITICIANS AT WORK

Domestic Enemies Of Our

Liberties Invent A New Crime: “Insubordination To The Authorities” News Crew Arrested And Jailed By U.S. Government Filth Guarding Fort Benning Gates: Correspondents Charged With “Insubordination To The Authorities”[One day, when armed soldiers and citizens combine to cleanse our society of ourdomestic enemies, “authorities” like these, local and national, will learn what real“insubordination” look like. T]

21 November, 2010 RT news [Excerpts]

An RT crew, including correspondent Kaelyn Forde and cameraman Jon Conway, hasbeen released after detention by US police while filming protests near the Fort Benningmilitary base in Georgia.

They were taken into custody despite complying with the police demand not tocome close to the gates of the base.

RT is now trying to find out the details of the incident.

The journalists were detained after the demonstration was over and everybody, includingcorrespondents, was leaving the site. The arrest was very rough, RT Washingtonbureau informs, with hard plastic hand cuffs injuring Kaelyn Forde’s wrists. This type ofhandcuffs is commonly used by US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In the footage she can be seen yelling, “We are press, why are you arresting me?”

The RT correspondents, as well as the demonstrators, were charged with

insubordination to the authorities, taking part in unlawful assembly and failure todisperse.

All those detained were transported to a jail, their private possessions, clothes and, inthe men’s case, underwear were confiscated. They received prison jumpsuits with thetag “Muscogee County Jail”. Kaelyn Forde managed to make a call from the prison.

After 24 hours of detention, all the arrested were brought before a judge.

After a six-hour interrogation of the arrested, and the policemen who detained them, thejudge kept most of the charges in place.

In particular, the RT correspondent and a cameraman were facing the dilemma of

admitting their guilt of “participation in unlawful assembly” and paying a fine, or goingback to jail.

The decision was made to pay the fine.

Another charge, “insubordination to the authorities”, will require further

investigative measures.

Eventually, at midnight Georgian time, 32 hours after the arrest, the correspondentswere released.Activists from a protest movement claim that this year’s crowd dispersal was thetoughest and most irrational.

One of the organizers of the rally, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed that it wasdone on purpose in order to intimidate the protestors, with the message that, if thegovernment can take such rough measures against the press, it can behave even worseto the activists.

Each year human rights activists gather at the gates of Fort Benning, which houses theWestern Hemisphere Institute for Security Co-operation (former the School of theAmericas), demanding its closure. The institute has been training police and militarypersonnel from Latin American countries, many of whom are said to have been allegedlyinvolved in crimes against civil citizens and killings of foreigners.

Some call Fort Benning “America’s terrorist training camp”. About 60,000 law-enforcement agents have been trained there, having then returned to their countries.

They have committed all kinds of human rights abuses. For example, in 1993, the UNTruth Commission on El Salvador named the army officers who had committed the worstatrocities of the civil war there. Two thirds of them had been trained at the School of theAmericas.

In Chile the School’s graduates rate both Augusto Pinochet’s secret police and mainprisons there, which are often referred to as concentration camps. Generals who led thebloody military coup in Honduras in 2009 were trained at the School of the Americas,which is now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Co-operation – thename may have changed but the practices have not.

These, by all standards non-violent, demonstrations at Fort Benning happen every year.

The rally has brought together thousands of people protesting, including human rightsactivists, victims of torture. One of the arrested was a 90-year old priest.

CLASS WAR REPORTS

Class War Portugal:

Largest Nationwide Strike AgainstGovernment Social Injustice Since 1988: “Big Companies And Rich Portuguese Often Pay Few Taxes”“Government Is Trying To Fix Portugal’s Economic Woes By Squeezing MoreMoney Out Of The Poor And The Middle Classes”While big companies and rich Portuguese often pay few taxes, Prime MinisterJose Socrates’ government is trying to fix Portugal’s economic woes bysqueezing more money out of the poor and the middle classes, other criticscomplain.

Nov 24, 2010 By Emilio Rappold, DPA

Lisbon - Fatima, 82, barely has enough to eat herself, yet she has come todistribute bread buns to pickets in front of a Lisbon post office to express hersupport for Wednesday’s general strike in Portugal.

‘I fully back the strike, because we are hungry,’ she fumes.

‘Two of my three sons have no job,’ the petite woman complains. ‘When did we last seesuch a situation in Portugal?’

Anger over tightening economic conditions and the perception of a social injusticeboosted support for the strike, the biggest in Portugal since 1988.

‘This is without doubt the worst crisis’ since the Carnation Revolution ended a four-decade, right-wing dictatorship in 1974, says Eugenio Fonseca, president of thePortuguese branch of the Catholic organization Caritas which comes to the aid of thepoor.

The number of people helped by Caritas soared by 30 per cent to more than 60,000 thisyear - and the organization says it does not have enough resources to attend to all thosein need. About 600,000 Portuguese aged over 65 years are undernourished or evensuffer from outright hunger, according to a recent study by the organization NutriAction.

The social organization Banco Alimentar, which feeds about 240,000 people daily, says27 per cent of the 10-million-strong population goes without eating at least one day permonth.

‘People are furious. They have no future perspectives,’ Banco Alimentar head IsabelJonet said.‘But the poor do not allow themselves to be manipulated,’ she told the weekly Expresso.‘If the state tries to do that, it will get dangerous here,’ she warned.

There is not much hope of the situation improving soon, says Eva Gaspar, editor-in-chiefof the economic newspaper Jornal de Negocios. ‘The social situation is getting worse,’she told the German Press Agency dpa. ‘We have a record unemployment (of over 10per cent). But an even worse aspect is, that people remain unemployed for longer andlonger periods.’

‘And only about half of the jobless get financial support from the state,’ Gasparexplained.

One of the main reasons for the growth of poverty is an unfair taxation system,Caritas’ Fonseca believes.

While big companies and rich Portuguese often pay few taxes, Prime MinisterJose Socrates’ government is trying to fix Portugal’s economic woes bysqueezing more money out of the poor and the middle classes, other criticscomplain.

The strike was protesting an austerity budget aimed at restoring the confidence offinancial markets amid concern that Portugal might need an international bailout similarto those requested by Greece and Ireland.

The austerity budget, which is expected to get the definitive seal of approval fromparliament on Friday, slashes public sector salaries by 5 per cent, freezespensions, raises value added and income tax, and cuts social spending.

Socrates’ economic policies ‘demand too many sacrifices from workers, while leavingout many (wealthy citizens) who could pay much more,’ said Joao Proenca, leader of thetrade union confederation UGT.

‘I will only have soup for supper,’ Fatima grumbled.

‘Socrates should not sleep peacefully tonight.’

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